Abdul Karim Ansari, the counsel for a Muslim boy who had been dismissed from school for sporting a beard, has now grown a beard himself, reports Firoz Mirza.

Abdul Karim Ansari, the counsel for a Muslim boy who had been dismissed from school for sporting a beard, has now grown a beard himself.

This after Supreme Court Judge Justice Markandey Katju, while hearing the case, had asked Ansari that if it was mandatory to wear a beard under Islam, why had he not kept one.

Mohammed Salim’s, a student of Nirmala Convent Higher Secondary School, who had been debarred from a government-recognised minority institution in Madhya Pradesh for growing a beard.

Justice Katju, while rejecting Salim’s — from Sironj in Vidisha — petition challenging, had said, “We don't want to have Talibans in the country...”

Though Salim’s counsel BA Khan and Ansari argued that sporting a beard was an indispensable part of Islam, Katju, apparently was not impressed.

Ansari, a resident of Idgah Hills Bhopal, told HT that Justice Katju’s comments made him sport a beard. “I have decided to sport a beard for the rest of my life. The move is not confined to disposal of review petition,” he said.